Carbone, Elisa. Blood on the River: James Town 1607. New York: Viking, 2006.
“Some would say I am lucky. Others would say I am doomed. I escaped the gallows–that is why I am lucky…As for being doomed, if I am doomed then so is Richard. We are the two boys Reverend Hunt decided to bring with him on this jounrey to the New World.” (p. 6-7)
The way we think of it, a trip across the ocean is an exciting adventure or a relaxing vacation. For Samuel, however, who was released from jail for theft only to become one of the settlers that would found James Town, Virginia in 1607, this “vacation” looks more like this:
“We are all seasick. And bored. And we are going absolutely no place. We have had nothing but storms and winds blowing the wrong direction for weeks now, and so we sit anchored in the cold, close enough to see England’s shores but still trapped down in this hole of a ‘tween deck with the stench of urine and vomit and chicken dung.” (p. 15)
Sounds like it couldn’t get much worse, but then they finally arrive on the coast of Virginia:
“Suddenly I hear a cry, then frantic shouting and someone moaning. I run to the railing. In the half-light of dusk I see them, five of them, crouched on a hill, their naked bodies painted, arrows flying from their longbows. Already ne of the sailors has fallen…I see now that this land is not so free and open. This is Indian land, and they do no want us here. And what is worse, it seems to me that their bows and arrows are quicker, more accurate, and can shoot farther than our muskets.” (p. 61-62)
Vacation? Not on your life, and not on Samuel’s life either.
